Erich Hartmann: 352 victories or... 80?

[FalkeEins]

John,

thanks for your kind comments..the Khazanov article struck me as being fairly sobre, if somewhat lacking in detail..it's also quite a long piece, so I shall keep adding to that page..

Graham,

Khazanov states that Hartmann's victory total is "..somewhere between 70 to 80 Soviet aircraft shot down" He continues... "It is therefore not incorrect to state that the scores of other famous JG 52 aces are likely to have been largely superior to Hartmann's, given that the evidence for his victory claims is much more unreliable than that for other pilots such as Barkhorn and Rall (..) This has much to do with Hartmann's tactic of catching lone Soviet aircraft unawares far behind the front lines, with only a wing man's statement to support his claim and goes someway to explaining the disparity with Soviet records since aircraft lost in this way were recorded as missing in action and not as shot down in combat..."

Mazila,

'cold war propaganda'. Researchers in the West have no idea what may have 'happened' to the Soviet archives during the cold war period....Was it not the case for example that Hartmann was put on trial in 1949 by the KGB charged with the destruction of 345 Soviet aircraft..as Khazanov states .." Hartmann's defenders will always argue that the KGB's researchers are unlikely to have been in error given the seriousness of the charges.."




Neil